Celebrating Small Businesses in 2025
Small businesses are the heart of our communities. On our blog, we shared stories of Main Street business innovation, community, and growth. Here are four stories about small businesses from the past year.
As we prepare for the new season of the Main Street Business Insights podcast, which will launch next week Wednesday, January 31, we've been hard at work capturing fresh conversations with business owners around the country. In the meantime, we wanted to put out some bonus episodes with highlights from season one. Each of the three bonus episodes will focus on a different theme. In previous episodes, you learned about how small business owners are working with their Main Streets to establish, maintain, and grow their ventures. You also heard from small business owners who are succeeding along Main Street -- and the advice they have for others doing the same.
In this bonus episode, you'll hear from small business owners from our first season who make connecting with their community a top priority. They share tips on how to build strong relationships with local people and organizations -- and build the case for why other small business owners should consider integrating community development into their core practices.
This episode features:
- Christine Hollerbach, CEO of Hollerbach's German Restaurant in Sanford, Florida.
- Jamie and Jerry Baker, co-owners of Trendy Teachers in Rome, Georgia
- Martha Moore and Ashley Owens, co-owners and founders of Martha & Ash in Camden, South Carolina
- Kenneth Bentley, co-host of The Barbershop Conversation podcast, based in Goldsboro, Florida.
- Harvey Williams, co-founder and CEO of Delta Dirt Distillery in Helena, Arkansas
- Terrand Smith, founder and CEO of 37 Oaks in Chicago, Illinois
- Danny Reynolds, owner of Stephenson's of Elkhart in Elkhart, Indiana
- Lindsay McDonald Goodson, CEO of Keith McDonald Plumbing in Milledgeville, Georgia
- Amber Lambke, co-founder and CEO of Maine Grains in Skowhegan, Maine.
- Anette Soto Landeros, co-owner of Casa Azul Coffee and President and CEO of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Fort Worth, Texas
Listen to the bonus episode now!
Mark Your Calendars: Season 2 Drops Next Week
The second season of Main Street Business Insights launches next week Wednesday, January 31, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday for the next 11 weeks.
This season, we'll delve deeper into the macroeconomic trends impacting Main Street businesses, such as the influence of AI on small business marketing, and how the post-pandemic loneliness and isolation epidemic is affecting business owners. Plus, we'll be highlighting Main Street economic development leaders who work to support their small business communities.
In the first episode, you'll hear host Matt Wagner's predictions for small business trends and hot topics in 2024.
Learn more and listen to Main Street Business Insights here. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
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